After returning home, Lu Meiyu went to Granny Zhao’s house to bring the two little girls back.
Seeing the sisters looking at her expectantly, Lu Meiyu felt a bit ashamed.
“Mother, what are we eating for lunch?”
“Rice.”
There was rice, but Lu Meiyu was worried about what dishes to make.
Yet just having rice already satisfied the sisters, which made her feel a little sad.
She had to solve the problem of vegetables.
There were some vegetables behind the house, but they were yellowed and unappealing.
Helpless, she started cooking the rice and went to pull some vegetable leaves.
Unexpectedly, she pulled out a carrot, and Lu Meiyu was overjoyed.
She had only recognized carrots by their roots before—how would she know what the leaves looked like?
Soon after, she pulled out a white radish as well.
Lu Meiyu silently memorized these two vegetables. Stir-fried carrot and white radish could count as a dish, right?
Although both looked rather malnourished…
The one coin’s worth of oil she bought still had some left after cooking once.
So she casually stir-fried the carrot and radish together—red and white, it looked quite nice.
With enough oil and salt, it tasted pretty good. At least the sisters were very satisfied!
Lu Meiyu glanced at her space again. The spiritual spring hadn’t produced a single extra drop.
【Host, currently one drop of spiritual spring water is produced every half month. You can dilute one drop and use it to water crops—it will have unexpected effects.】
Perhaps the system couldn’t stand her constant checking and gave her a reminder.
Lu Meiyu brightened immediately and went to fetch water.
The river wasn’t far, but the water level had dropped significantly.
Throwing the bucket in wouldn’t gather much water, so she had to use a dipper to scoop it bucket by bucket.
After some effort, she filled two buckets.
The sisters couldn’t help much, but they followed her like little tails.
Lu Meiyu struggled to carry the load.
Carrying water was different from other physical labor—even though she had survived harsh conditions before and wasn’t soft-hearted, she was still a novice at this kind of work.
After bringing the water to the vegetable plot, she diluted a drop of spiritual spring water into it.
To ensure even distribution, she carefully poured the water back and forth between buckets before watering the entire plot.
“How long has it been since it rained?”
Xiao Xuan replied crisply, “Granny Zhao said it’s been over two months.”
No wonder the vegetables were withering.
Even the rice in the fields was drying up. It had already sprouted ears, but without rain, the soil hardened, and the grains were shriveled.
After watering the plot, Lu Meiyu felt like she had accomplished something major.
She still needed to find a way to earn more money.
“Tomorrow, I plan to go into the mountains. You two stay at Granny Zhao’s and play.”
But Xiao Xuan objected, “Mother, the mountains are dangerous. Let my sister stay at Granny Zhao’s—I’ll go with you.”
“No. If there’s danger, I can run faster alone. Bringing you would only slow me down.”
Xiao Xuan felt wronged, but she knew her mother was right.
She must not become a burden.
“The hills nearby don’t have much—not even wild vegetables. But deeper in the mountains, even hunters don’t dare go. There are wild beasts,” Xiao Xuan explained seriously.
Lu Meiyu nodded, patted her daughter’s head, and saw a hint of shyness on her face.
That afternoon, she went to the Liu family’s old house again. The Liu family panicked upon seeing her.
“You’ve taken the military pay. The land belonging to my branch must be given to me!”
Lu Meiyu got straight to the point.
“There’s no such logic! The family has already been divided. You took so many tools, as well as rice and money,” Old Master Liu said angrily.
He truly felt this eldest daughter-in-law was ungrateful.
“The military pay is three hundred coins a month. You’ve taken two months’ worth—six hundred coins. Don’t think you can fool me; I’ve checked everything clearly. The official said that as Liu Qingsheng’s wife, I can file a document and collect it myself.”
Lu Meiyu lied without hesitation. “I’ve been kind enough to let you collect it. But if you don’t give me land, I’ll go file that document tomorrow.”
Zhangshi panicked. “Nonsense! I already left my fingerprint. There was a document from Qingsheng stating clearly that I would collect it!”
“That’s true. But if I file a new one, yours becomes invalid,” Lu Meiyu sneered. “You’re counting on the village head to support you, right? But don’t forget—if I offer him a hundred coins from the military pay, do you think he’ll still side with you?”
Liu Lao’er shouted, “Are you crazy? It’s only three hundred coins—you’d give a hundred away?”
“Exactly! Even after giving a hundred away, I still have two hundred. That’s far better than getting nothing while you take everything.”
Lu Meiyu could have used the electric baton to threaten them directly.
But she found some amusement in playing with them.
Old Master Liu was furious, his chest heaving. “Turning against your own family! You’ve lost your mind!”
The angrier they became, the more Lu Meiyu laughed.
“Think carefully. If you won’t give me land, I’ll go to the village head now. Once I go, there’s no room for negotiation.”
She turned as if to leave, and Zhangshi hurriedly stopped her. “Wait! Let’s discuss this.”
The Liu family yielded.
The Liu family owned six mu of paddy field and two mu of dry land.
After negotiation, Lu Meiyu was given one mu of paddy field and half a mu of dry land.
“We need a written document,” Lu Meiyu said calmly.
Zhou Shi sneered, “Why bother? The land won’t run away.”
“The land won’t, but people might go back on their word.”
The village head was summoned again. Upon seeing Lu Meiyu, he frowned. “What is it now?”
Lu Meiyu had embarrassed him before, and he clearly disliked her.
“The previous division was unfair. This time, we are redistributing. The Liu family will give me one mu of field and half a mu of land. We need it written down.”
The village head was surprised and glanced at the Liu family, silently blaming them for their incompetence.
Since they had agreed among themselves, he couldn’t oppose it in front of everyone.
The document clearly stated the property allocated to the eldest branch, including the exact location of the land.
Only then was the matter settled.